Garry Kasparov still has the magic!

4/29/2016 – It was exciting nine rounds of blitz chess. Day one ended with Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So taking the lead with 5.0/9. While the duo played well, the player of the day was surely Garry Kasparov. The 13th World Champion showed that he still is a force to reckon with as he played some scintillating games. We have loads of analysis, interesting moments and a touch move incident which was handled very maturely by Hikaru Nakamura.

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The entire world was looking forward to this ultimate blitz event where
Garry Kasparov was going to lock horns against three of the best
players in the world. This is what the event was all about:

It
is a four player sextuple Round Robin. Each player will play against
the other six times. 18 rounds of chess divided equally over two
days.

The
time control is 5 mins + 3 seconds delay (not increment)

The criteria for selection was the top three
finishers of the US Chess Championships 2016 -
Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So. It couldn't have
got better.

Garry Kasparov is not going to keep his winnings
for himself!

On the first day we witnessed nine rounds of
action packed blitz chess! And this is how the standings looked like at
the end of the day:

While many expect Nakamura to win this tournament hands down, Wesley
So's performance was quite unexpected. Wesley and Hikaru lead the tournament
and are followed by Kasparov just half a point behind. Caruana is currently
on the last spot, but that is only because he lost all of his last three
games. Instead of going through the key moments round by round, let's
have a look at the players individually and how they performed. It is of
course natural to start with the star attraction of the event, Garry Kimovich
Kasparov!

Garry Kasparov

That will to win, the fire in his eyes, the
intent in his moves!
Garry Kasparov was back doing the thing he does best - play chess!

The last time we saw Garry at the chess board was exactly a year ago against
Nigel Short. Prior to that he had played some exhibition matches against
Anatoly Karpov. But Short and Karpov are nowhere close to the level of Nakamura,
Caruana and So. It was surely alien territory for all the viewers as well
as Kasparov himself. How was he going to fare? He silenced all his critics
when in the first round he began with a win over Wesley So.

Kasparov - So

Wesley played the move f6 which turned out to be a critical mistake. Garry
jumped on his opportunity and played the strong 21.Bd5+! with the neat point
being that 21...Kh8 lost to 22.exf6! and the queen is not hanging on e2
as 23.fxg7 is a mate! Wesley had to sacrifice an exchange with 21...Rxd5
and after 22.cxd5 it was quite easy for Kasparov to score his first
win!

While the first round win was surely a confidence booster for Garry, a
bigger test awaited him in the second round in the form of Hikaru Nakamura.
It was really interesting to see Kasparov essaying the King's Indian
Defence with the black pieces. It was a battle between one of the greatest
exponents of the KID that our game as ever seen (Kasparov) against
the present day King's Indian expert (Nakamura). Garry played the opening
confidently, gained a comfortable position, but Hikaru fought back and the
players reached the following position.

Nakamura - Kasparov

In the above position Kasparov played his knight from d5 to b4, let go
of it, then suddenly noticed that 27.Bc5! would lose the game. So he picked
his knight again and moved it to f4. "I was not sure whether I
had left the knight. In blitz it is difficult to tell," said Garry
in his interview with Maurice Ashley at the end of the day. "I looked
at Hikaru and the arbiter. If they would have claimed I would have
resigned the game."

That moment when Kasparov picked up his
knight on b4 after having let go of it.
You can see Hikaru's face that says that he has seen it!

Kasparov's reaction when this topic of
leaving the piece was brought up

This is what Hikaru had to say about the incident: "It's Garry
after all. Maybe I am not treating this event as seriously as he is. I gave
him the benefit of the doubt. You hate seeing games decided on blunders
like that. So that's the reason why I let it pass." It was truly
a great gesture by Nakamura.

Garry came to the event with a very smart decision of avoiding the Berlin
by playing the Scotch and the Vienna. In the four games with white when
he opened with 1.e4 and his opponent's replied with 1...e5, he scored
3.5/4.

When was the last time you saw the Vienna in
top level chess?!

It wouldn't be incorrect to say that Garry was the best player of the
day. He made the best moves in most of his games and had dominating positions
in all of them. But making the best moves come at a cost - time! And he
made huge mistakes in three completely winning positions.

So - Kasparov, Round four

Kasparov, who is Black, is a complete pawn up and has a great position.
Over here he blundered big time with the move 25...Nc3?? Wesley just moved
his rook to 26.Rc1 and it was all over. Kasparov had to resign.

Wesley played Rc1
and Garry had to stretch out his hand in resignation

Kasparov - So, Round seven

Kasparov has completely outplayed So and is clearly winning here. But in
this position he blundered with 41.b7?? The knight on d6 was hanging and
Wesley was once again lucky. After 41...Qxd6 Kasparov had to resign.

Nakamura - Kasparov, Round eight

It was Kasparov's (Black's) turn to play. The game had been topsy
turvy until this point. Nakamura was winning, then Kasparov was and in the
above position after 43...Kxd8, the game would end in a draw. But Garry
played 43...Rd5?? and after 44.Nxf7 he couldn't captured the d3 knight
due to Ne5+ fork.

The best part about having Garry back on the
board is that he brings the human element with him!

Three whole knights!
That's what I blundered today! Yet I am just half a point behind the
leaders!

Of course not all of Kasparov's games were
filled with mistakes. He also played some sublime chess and here we present
two of his finest games of day one. The first one against Nakmura is special
because of the simplicity with which Garry finishes off the game and doesn't
give his opponent any chances.

Look at how hard Garry is trying to figure
out the best way to win. He knows that this is the critical position.

Wesley So

After Wesley lost his first two games at the event it seemed as if he would
be the one who would have to fight really hard in order to avoid finishing
at the bottom of the table. But as it so happened, at the end of day one
he finished on the top! He was given two lucky points by Kasparov, but he
did play some excellent games as well, like this one against Hikaru Nakamura:

If you see the broadcast you will realize that
one thing that separated Wesley from the rest was his sheer calmness on
the board. The minimum fuss with which he made his moves was exemplary.
This was perhaps one of the reasons why he performed so well.

Hikaru Nakamura

Nakamura was definitely the favourite going into this event. He is the
number two ranked blitz player in the world behind Magnus Carlsen and sports
a massive blitz Elo of 2883. But today was not his day as he wasn't
able to convert better positions and very often slid into completely losing
situations. It was only his resourcefulness that helped him score points
from absolutely impossible situations. Have a look at this one:

Many of the players would have agreed to a
draw but Nakamura kept trying

Such endings can only be lost in blitz!

Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano showed some excellent chess at the start of the day. However, towards
the end he ran out of steam and finished the first day on the last spot
with 3.5/9. But just to show what he was capable of, here's his nice
win against Hikaru Nakamura:

Sagar ShahSagar Shah is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He is also a chartered accountant and would like to become the first CA+GM of India. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder of the ChessBase India website.

See also

4/30/2018 – Top class U.S. Championship chess returned to Saint Louis Chess & Scholastic Center for the tenth time from April 18th to 30th. Sam Shankland won the Open Championship with an astounding score of 8½ / 11. The Women's Championship will be decided in a rapid and (if necessary) Armageddon blitz tiebreak match between Annie Wang, and Nazi Paikidze. Live games and commentary from Yasser Seirawan, Jennifer Shahade and Maurice Ashley starting at 20:00 CEST (13:00 CDT, local St. Louis time).

See also

4/20/2018 – Wesley So and Varuzhan Akobian are setting the pace in St. Louis with two more victories in round two of the U.S. Championship. Fabiano Caruana and Ray Robson made it four wins with white in all. Zatonskih and Krush posted their first full points in the Women's Championship: | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Video

Former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik liked to play the French and once described it as a 'difficult and dangerous opening'. But in this 60 minutes video IM Andrew Martin suggests an aggressive and little-used idea of the renowned attacking player GM Viktor Kupreichik to counter the French: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Be3!?. Andrew Martin uses the games of Kupreichik to show why this line could catch many French aficionados unprepared and is very dangerous for Black. Attacking players will love this line and the unusual complications that it promotes.

To take just one comment from many.. " Kasparov did not cheat it is up to his opponent or the arbiter to call the touch move". So you seem to be saying, it would have been cheating if someone complained, but they didn't, so it's not.

Say for example, a marathon runner gets in a car and drives most of the distance. Does it make a difference if they are caught doing this or not? It seems to me, its status as cheating isn't at all affected by whether anyone knows about it. Fairly obviously. Or if someone saw them do it, and chose not to report it, wouldn't it be ridiculous to say "It's not cheating because they didn't tell anyone"?

The behaviour of these people making excuses for Garry, explaining away his cheating, isn't impressive either. Seduced by the glamour. Which is of course how he gets away with it. Such effrontery and blatant cheating that the chess fan in the street, as well as Kasparov's own mind, are forced to make up excuses for why this piece of cheating is actually fine, ok, understandable, legitimate etc, why he was allowed to get away with it, AGAIN, in full public view.

It's a fascinating but depressing psychological study.

mburch1974 4/30/2016 05:55

Caruana is #3 in the world at 2795 and 2665 at blitz, not calling him a GM at blitz is just silly and insulting. Yes the others are stronger at blitz but lets not be ridiculous with such a statement.

Rational 4/30/2016 01:24

Nakamura did not call the touch move as he expects to win the tournament any way, Kasparov did not cheat it is up to his opponent or the arbiter to call the touch move. Though it is unsporting, on the other hand most of us were all on the Internet to watch Kasparov. His and Nakamura 's games were the most entertaining it was great to see Kasparov back instead of all the grinders we have now.

Can anyone say Why is Caruana so bad at blitz when he is nearly 2800 at classical ?

Frederic 4/29/2016 11:38

@Bellona Tribe 4/29/2016 03:42 "Can someone help me? There must be a German word for the way watching this makes me feel!?" Maybe Kasparovblitzturnierbetrachtungshochgefühle?

Raymond Labelle 4/29/2016 09:28

Question: the blitz is 5 minutes + 3 seconds "delay" - it is specified that "delay" does not mean "increment". How does this work?

okfine90 4/29/2016 07:32

Yes the skill has not rusted yet, but nerves have !. Kasparov blundering in speed chess is not new. He did that in 1996 against Anand who won that tournament by beating him. Although we all understand(not because he is 53) that he is out of chess scene for many years now, and it's not easy.

Mendheim 4/29/2016 06:57

How generously Hikaru Nakamura acted towards Garri can only be measured, if taking into account what happened to himself when blundering due to the "touch piece" rule in his game with Aronian. Well done!

ulyssesganesh 4/29/2016 06:49

nice to see gary back with a bang....playing some scintillating games! hope he will continue in similar vein today minus the losses of yesterday!

Aighearach 4/29/2016 06:37

Being 3rd against 3 opponents, 2 of whom are top blitz players and 1 of whom is under 2500 at blitz, is not "dominating." Dominating requires, first of all, being in first place. And second, it requires to be strongly in first.

What meaning of "dominate" means, "trailing?"

etohdan 4/29/2016 06:36

so basically he cheated by touching the knight and not moving it.

DJones 4/29/2016 05:12

Nakamura was asked about the infraction. The fact that you choose to frame his reaction that way says more about your suspicious mind than it does about the truth of his comments. I wonder if anyone else would have let Nakamura slide on that infraction. Somehow I doubt the chess community would let it go. Interesting how personal biases color our perceptions and analyses.

LetsReason 4/29/2016 04:27

Taken in by Nakamura's "gesture" is like appreciating Trump's moving left in his politics—it's really about him. Fine, it seemed magnanimous of Nakamura not to make a fuss in a non-rated blitz game against the strongest player ever. But I'm sure they all would have done the same thing. But true to form, Trump...er...Naka just had to make sure you understood that he was being magnanimous about it so you could praise it. "I gave him the benefit of the doubt. ...that's the reason why I let it pass." I do not care for the guy.

rollschu 4/29/2016 04:17

Interesting to see a 53 year old retired player dominating three current top 10 players at blitz (which is supposingly more challenging for older people than longer time controls). I wonder if that is an indication that the soll called y-Generation or Millenials are indeed have soften up compared to previous generations (Karpov made once a similar statement). With all the computer help wouldnt you expect that chess has progressed in depth and understanding of the game? What would happen if these young guys have to play a 24-game wc-match? Throw in the towel after 12 games because of exhaustion and tireness?

siamesedream 4/29/2016 03:59

"This next game will definitely remind you of a 23-year-old Garry Kasparov trying to stamp his authority on his opponents:"

Garry is so young? ;)

A7fecd1676b88 4/29/2016 03:40

@MatAlfre72 -- Kasparov's use of would was correct, though not required. It is correct to say it as he did, or to say "had" as you suggest.

Yes, you can find grammar that says otherwise, (conditional perfect vs past perfect), and that is an illustration of why grammars are only approximations of the actual language. The grammar is extracted from language usage,not the other way around.

Unless your goal is to sound stilted, you should listen to how people actually talk and not just to what the grammar says.

CID64 4/29/2016 03:04

MatAlfre72=grammar nazi

Nostalgiac1972 4/29/2016 02:59

Only when one watches Kasparov back in action does one have an objective comparison as to how dry current chess has gone, how dull top chess players have become, and how far human exuberance and emotion is missing over the board. Garry, while playing dynamic and intelligent chess, has turned the tournament into something immensely more spectacular, so much so that even my friend's old granny who basically knows nothing of chess was thrilled by Garry's energetic expressions during the game. I sincerely hope Garry will keep showing up.

fixpont 4/29/2016 01:17

If Garry were 20 years younger, he would crush all of them. Nice to watch him again!

Cyric Renner 4/29/2016 01:10

I do not know why the author of this article says Wesley So's performance is surprising. He is my favorite to win the event. Why is he So consistently underrated ? Yes, he was lucky to win two games against Garry with blunders, but this is blitz. He should not have lost the game to Nakamura either, so it all comes out in the wash eventually.

I am not surprised Caruana tanked. His speed chess was significantly below that of classical play. 2400 at best. He is obviously better then this today, but still below the other three competitors.

Mendheim 4/29/2016 01:07

All players had theirs ups and downs what put out a large part of the drama. And everybody had to get used to the unusual Bronstein-time mode (a very chess-like one!), particularly as the average game does no longer take 2 x 5 minutes, but 2 x 8 minutes, some kind of "slow blitz". Even speedy Nakamura sometimes took up to one minute for a move what increases the tension extremely and also permits to the spectator a completely different insight in contrast to faster games. The straight expiration of the clock of from 5.00 to 0.00 without constant adding of a time bonus also has something - it is more aethetic. Conclusion: This could be the birth of a new format for blitz chess matches. The tension before the showdown tonight (in St. Louis at noon) is hardly to be outbid.

Aighearach 4/29/2016 01:01

It wasn't a "sporting" gesture; the "sporting" gesture is to maintain the rules.

It was a non-sporting gesture, because as he said, for him it is not a serious event, maybe Kasparov really cares more about winning.

One of them is a top level chess professional. The other is retired. It is also blitz, and neither of them cares about the small cash prize. The entertainment of Kasparov grasping at straws in that way is surely worth more than the game! And he's ahead of Kasparov anyways.

It think it is funny that 3rd place out of 4 players, ahead of only the player who is not a GM at blitz, means to many that he "still has the magic." I guess that is why he retired before these guys could surpass him; so he wouldn't lose any worshipers! Hilarious.

I agree with @Villa; if Fischer was playing his worshipers would certainly have him at 10/9, even if he was in 3rd.

Dr Zeiss 4/29/2016 10:06

To use an apt expression, Kasparov made these top ten players look like tourists:-)

firestorm 4/29/2016 09:56

Oh duh, I realised whilst watching the blitz that of course, Magnus is playing in Norway, just forgot whilst carried away with the enthusiasm this event inspires. I guess holding it immediately after the USA championships was the best way to get everyone together, and keep it current, despite the clash with the Altibox in Norway.

firestorm 4/29/2016 09:53

Nakamura's response to Kasparov putting the piece down, going to press his clock, then moving it elsewhere, was perfect- his professionalism is very impressive. Kasparov is still the ebullient, at times implusive, individual, who wears his heart on his sleeve. As the commentators said when he realised he had blundered pieces- look at this response. Just great entertainment and the stuff that helps make chess a spectator sport to more than just afficiandos.

Nakamura didn't take it up because he would rather play chess against the move Garry wanted to play, than claim a game- as he said, its a blitz game and wanted to act in the spirit of the event. Clearly, he'd rather it be remembered for the great celebration of chess it is, than a possible incident. Being able to rise above the situation and act magnanimously like this- very mature and professional.

Come on, Kasparov is superb entertainment, a lively and talkative interviewee, and he happens to play pretty good chess too :-)

I guess I'm thinking what a lot of other people are thinking too- what a shame Magnus wasn't invited (or couldn't play- perhaps he was). Whilst a blitz match between Magnus and Garry would be great, with Garry having enough time to prepare and shake off the rust- its tragic to see great games spoilt by blunders at any rate of play- an all play all like this would be an even better event in my opinion. A 6 player/4 game minimatch would only be an extra round each day, wouldn't it?

Also, how about playing in the world blitz tournament, Garry? Win it or not, the audience that would draw would be insane.

Congrats to St. Louis for coming up with this event and their organisation of it. Superb.

GregEs 4/29/2016 09:49

I think 21 moves is the shortest losing game of Nakamura when he joined the elite top 10. Nice to see Garry Kasparov being back in the board. The monster with 21 eyes from Baku as his compatriots calls him.

yesenadam 4/29/2016 08:40

People still go on about the Judit touch move incident. This was a mile more blatant, and .. no-one cares? I think in both cases it wasn't so much 'sporting' of his opponents not to protest, as K stunning them with his colossal effrontery. It's like Maradona's hand of God goal, or a corporation 'too big to fail', or trying to tell the Emperor he has no clothes - the actual rules that apply to everyone else don't seem to apply. The sporting thing would have been for him to resign in both games. But no.. Ah anyway. I just wanted to register my amazement that no-one seems to mind K's blatant moving of a piece after he moved it. i.e. cheating, if anyone else tried to get away with it! And then lying about it! I really can't believe that he wasn't aware he moved it and let go. Even if he almost convinced himself.. Is this his style in politics also?

Offramp 4/29/2016 07:38

"Delay" is much worse than "increment".

MatAlfre72 4/29/2016 07:27

" If they would have claimed I would have resigned the game." Correct your grammar! The right way to write is "if they HAD claimed I would have resigned"

rothinchess 4/29/2016 07:13

nice

kurumban 4/29/2016 06:17

The old lion can still roar! Well done, Garry, you have defied age!

thlai80 4/29/2016 05:39

@Denix, no. $20k is the prize for 1st. Kasparov had agreed to donate whatever his winnings will be to the US team. The $20k is assuming if he wins the blitz.

Denix 4/29/2016 05:33

Did G Kasparov donated $ 20,000 to the US Olympic Team? I think I heard it during the live commentary by Y Seirawan and the beautiful J Shahade in the middle of the tournament. G Kasparov was leading with F Caruana at that time.

paulegaevsky 4/29/2016 05:15

Wesley the underdog and the former Asian Blitz King at the age of 16 is doing good in round 1, he will do much better in round 2

DJones 4/29/2016 04:55

I was smiling like I just smoked a fat joint with an old friend seeing Kasparov get in there and mix it up. Tomorrow promises even higher drama. Kasparov and Nakamura make great television. Wesley is a surprising fighter and Caruana is the consummate pro. No excuses from him, just acknowledgement and a promise to fight harder.

digupagal 4/29/2016 04:47

well......if kasparov gets back to preparation business he will beat your carlsen

Rambus 4/29/2016 04:31

Kaspy vs Carlsen? It would be a no contest. However, if you could deduct 20-30 yrs from Kaspy's age, it would also be a no contest, but the other way around!

thlai80 4/29/2016 04:10

It was 2am my time ... and I managed to watch for 2 hours until I got too tired ... but it was worth every second!

I especially like the game vs Caruana when he unleashed f4-f3-Be2-e3 ... man we lost such attacking display for more than 10 years! Credits to Caruana who didn't crack and defended calmly. Only weakness by Kasparov was his outdated opening theories, making him thought more during the opening phase. If Kasparov was not out of the game for so long, it would have been a massacre considering he was top in most of the games by middle games with dynamic positions and attacking possibilities.

This is turning out to be a fantastic promotion to chess. The top 3 finishers of US championships becomes the qualifier to the BOSS stage like arcade game!

Kasparov is the GOAT, with or without the machine/engine generations.

Justjeff 4/29/2016 03:48

Surely there is a sponsor willing to fund a Kasparov-Carlsen match at any time limit.